The Inside Story

I've written a bunch of articles about
writing and marketing the Trickster's Game trilogy. A few snippets
are included below. To read the full article, just click on the link
provided.

RESEARCH & WRITING

What's in a Title?

Coming up with the titles of the first
two books of the trilogy was relatively easy. Coming up with a title for
the third…not so much! Read more.

What's in a Name?

When I began writing Heartwood, I came up with a system for
naming characters that I thought was...well...cool. (Hey, it was my first novel. And I thought it would be a stand-alone.)
Once I'd started my
rather esoteric system, I felt the need to stick with it. Read more.

I was a history major in college and I’ve never lost my love of
research. At Lunacon 2008, I moderated a panel with such participants as
Jacqueline Carey and Chris Cevasco, and we got to share our love of
history and the resources we’ve discovered to help bring a story to life. Read more.

Cannibalizing History-Part Two: The Traveling Writer

My love of research has taken me to a tithe barn in England and a
sheep-shearing festival on the Hudson; to the palaces of James IV in
Scotland and a “black house” on the Isle of Sky (where my friend Robin
and I nearly suffocated in the peat smoke). Read more.

MARKETING

Selling the Tale: Writing a Plot Synopsis

When fellow DAW author Josh Palmatier
asked me to join a group of writers posting a synopsis of one of their
published novels as a way of helping aspiring authors “see how it’s
done,” I immediately said, “Yes.” Then my anal side kicked in and I
asked if he wanted a marketing synopsis (that you would use to pitch your
novel to an editor/agent) or a working synopsis (that you might develop to
help you write your book).